One of the keys to success for a national or global retail brand is an equal measure of style and substance. There’s only so much catwalk style a brand can have before the customer wants to see beneath the surface. This can be where many new brands fail.
Looking at the current climate, retailer BHS, in the UK, has been tabloid news for some months now about its closure, and will soon be in the retail archives along with Woolworths. A once British stronghold on the High Street consumer market which lost its way in the digital world. One of the reasons for the downfall of BHS is its confused ‘image’. It failed to market itself better in the high-end 35+ year old market – which M&S does so successfully – and thereby alienated the younger audience who happily shop online or within ‘fashionable’ chains like H&M or Top Shop.
Expansion is key for generating word-of-mouth
One way to generate local and online-press is by expanding a small brand into a larger floor space store – even if it is just around the corner from the existing premises. However, what is the point of having more square meters in the new store, if not to show that fact off?
As soon as one shop closes, there’s a buzz about who will move into that shop shell. This also counts for car showrooms and warehouses. Locals love to know who the new neighbours are, and now is the time to re-make a strong first impression.
Regardless of scale, be it Tesco, Costa or Clarks, a fresh start can be as good as a first date.
Epitomised by Willy Wonka opening the gates to his factory, the general public cannot get enough of an upcoming opening-day. The fever that ensues when non-descript builders begin renovations and template banners go up announcing an anonymously branded launch day is palpable. Speculation becomes rife between generations and genders.
Make a splash (page)
Store fronts, in this digital age, could be described as landing pages. Store window placements are critical for consumers to ‘click on’ and take the retail bait. In the same way as people will leave a webpage if they don’t like what they immediately see above the fold, customers will leave a shop if the entrance is not welcoming and enticing. Get active on social media – generate a new hashtag or ride the coat-tails of current trends, like the Olympics, to get more gold medal exposure.
Whilst the store is being kitted out it must also be ‘open for business’ – a holding page. Conversations of passing customers need to include phrases such as “they never had that before” and “I’ll definitely shop there”. This is where further organic social media commentary can happen.
Put your best foot forward
To showcase your new store, work from the floor up. Bright, shining and glossy floors always look welcoming. Even if you’re not the owner of a small store stepping into the limelight with a prime new location, but contracted to ‘install’ it, get the leading, high quality floor paint available to give the surface the best chance against years of heavy footfall. Nothing screams stay away more than a grubby and slippery floor, especially in the UK, where winters can be cruel to retail.
The difference between a basic floor paint and an industrial capacity floor paint can be its resilience to wear and tear, slip, chemical spills and exposure to the elements. Brand reputation is cut-throat in 2016 and vintage, rustic and shabby are terms that don’t even benefit charity shops anymore. Be prepared for years of busy sales, busier cleaning, and lots of installation/promotional stand movement.
Imagine the customers’ eyes as they look through the not-open-yet store windows and see a sparkling floor – “looks bigger than I thought it was!”
Laying down the foundations
Once the ‘ground work’ is done, any amount of heavy lifting equipment can be used on it.
As a canvas, a clean and radiant floor can re-illuminate lighting and the gloss sheens of installations. Split testing layouts, colour schemes, promotions or sales areas is much easier if the flooring looks immaculate – compare it to how much better a flowerbed looks once the garden grass has been cut short.
For a smaller company, branching out into new waters with a second store, the ‘brand’ can’t hide in the successes of the first store for too long and must, as with the second runner on an Olympic relay team, pick up the pace. Look to the best, shop where the biggest retails names in the world shop and buy the best products out there. Don’t cut corners. A boutique store can compete with Waitrose, but its aisle lines must be pristine and sharp. The ‘glow’ of lighting must be mirrored across all surfaces. Cleanliness is in the quality of the coatings applied.
Show off the flooring too. For fashion and accessory shops, leave as much clear floor space as possible. Create a gallery, with products on walls and clear walkways around the exhibited works. Don’t orchestrate the stock placement so that there’s a hustle and bustle at 10am every Saturday morning.
A subliminal comfort-zone
Customers find comfort and security within subliminal factors of places they regularly shop. Emotive music works well if you can give the customer a clear ‘dancefloor’ to work around. Space, room to ponder and a clear, clean line of site to your top displays from the entrance will ensure new customers shop with you and returning customers take to your new ‘branch’.
Be proud, and when customers comment on how bright, radiant and well-presented your shop is, tell them you buy the same floor paint as Harrods!
A shop needs to be a moving canvas – people like to see change when they pay regular visits. Compete with the biggest brands on the High Street and give your new store the best chance of furthering your brand by focusing, first and foremost, on the number one most overlooked factor with new store, the floor.
From the floor up, your company can be the next brand to go national.
